The Shotti Bunch
Overview One of the League of Champions' most consistent teams, The Shotti Bunch has dominated the competition with the most playoff wins of any team and the second best regular season winning% among all teams with a minimum of one full season. The Shotti Bunch won it all in 2013 and has reached the semifinal round in every season, the only team to do so. 2012 Draft A New Power Rises (2012 Season) Five teams folded after the 2011 season. Of those five, four had missed the playoffs. In order to quell any questions regarding the competiteness of the league, the Commish had sought out the best ownership available to build a new franchise capable of big things. Joe Ritchotte, a student of the game, was an obvious candidate. His 2012 team represented a new chapter in the league. The Shotti Bunch came out of the gates firing with a sleek roster built on speed and agility. Early questions at QB put a damper on The Shotti Bunch's coming out party against Reign Maker. They won the game but Vick through an obnoxious five picks against the Cleveland Browns. While the flex positions remained uncertain, Boldin and Jackson provided dominance out of the wide receiver position and AP/Rice were a potent 1-2 punch at running back. Rob Gronkowski, soon to become a Shotti Bunch favorite, stayed healthy but had a slow start. Matters came to a head in week 3, when winless why am I doing this took The Shotti Bunch behind the barn. TSB looked bad in the matchup, only scoring 164.69 after breaking 200 points in each of the first two weeks. It seemed the teams success hinged on whether Vick would have a good day or not, as evidenced by the blowout against GaroppoblowMe the following week when Vick played near flawless football against the New York Giants. Week five was an exception, with Reggie Wayne and Ahmad Bradshaw going off and making up for the lack of production out of the QB slot. This raised the awareness of teams league-wide. Nothing was scarier than a team that could win without a quarterback. One for unique strategy, The Shotti Bunch was the only team in the league that held two kickers and two defenses in 2012, using each interchangably depending on the matchup. Shotti also managed two QBs in a similar manner. Among November changes was a final decision on Mike Vick, who was dropped for Carson Palmer. This after Vick dialed in a terrible start that cost them the victory over ma ma momma said and then suffered a season-ender the following week. Now with Palmer and Fitzpatrick, The Shotti Bunch moved forward and began to struggle. Gronk's health finally caught up with TSB and he was forced to bench the star TE for the remainder of the season. Palmer became the weekly starter and the team started expecting too much from guys like Howling and Reece. Shotti dropped a second game to Why am I doing this, a team that was apparently TSB's kryptonite. Gronk's replacement, Kyle Chandler, couldn't handle the load. Now the first round bye was at stake and they faced a GaroppoblowMe team fighting for their lives. TSB needed to win and hope for a ma ma momma said loss. Both games were close but as it happened the outcome favored MMMS. TSB would still be going to the playoffs but instead of a first round bye they would limp into the quarterfinals having lost four of their last five games. To make matters worse, all four teams they lost to were playoff teams. Regardless, TSB finished the season with the most total points and was ready for post-season action. The matchup was not favorable. They would have to face the Why am I doing this team that had already beaten them twice on the season. But third time's a charm. Everything fell into place and TSB was able to knock off Why am I doing this in their first playoff game 239.77-220.41. Boldin led the way with two touchdowns and 81 yards on five receptions and Adrian Peterson added two touchdowns and over 100 yards rushing. That was as far down the road as The Shotti Bunch would go in 2012. The next week they faced the eventual champion, ma ma momma said, for the second time. Just like last time they lost, but unlike last time it wasn't even close. The Shotti Bunch suffered a total collapse. Palmer had only 182 yards with no touchdowns, and Boldin followed up his performance with no catches and no yards. The Shotti Bunch was humbled. The top scoring team in the league was held to 142.76 points, their lowest total of the season. Shotti's 2012 team was an anomaly. On paper they seemed inconsistent. In practice it was a different story. The league had gotten a good look at a manager so skilled in the art of game-to-game substitutions that even with injuries and no elite QB, The Shotti Bunch was able to get to the semifinals. Everyone was put on notice and deep down every manager knew it was only a matter of time before TSB had a Championship Trophy of their own. 2013 Draft A Shotti Bunch of Wins (2013 Season) Shotti didn't sneak up on anybody in 2013. Everyone saw them coming. Armed with the greatest ground attack the league had ever seen, Shotti unleashed hell upon the league. They opened the league with the top score in week one, posting 260.09 against GaroppoblowMe. They then gained massive firepower in tight end Julius Thomas, aquired off of free agancy for the cheap price of Josh Gordon. The Thomas Duo combined for 642.80 points in 2013. Still, it was huge production from the RBs that fueled them to their best regular season. LeSean McCoy averaged 37.37 points and over 100 rushing yard per game and DeMarco Murray complimented with 26.81 PPG. In 2013 the NFL had 10 players rush for over 1,100 yards. The Shotti Bunch owned four of them. While Shotti was rolling with his Thomas Duo, Peyton Manning was fueling Fire Goodell to the 2013 scoring title with his 881.98 points. The two seemed destined for a matchup in the title game if both could stay healthy. Prior to week 10, Shotti lost his starting QB in Rodgers. Luckily, a relatively unknown character out of Philly by the name of Nick Foles was lighting up the NFC East. Foles threw for more TDs in four games (16) than Rodgers had thrown all season. This was yet another genius move by a taem that was feared league-wide for their consistency and ferocious run game. Shotti's lone blemish came late in the year against Reign Maker. Both teams were 8--3 and fighting for a bye. Shotti was at a disadvantage with Foles and Rodgers both riding the pine, the former due to the bye. Additionally, Kansas City faced a potent Chargers offense. They finished the day with 0 fantasy points. Meanwhile, the Bronco Duo had the misfortune of facing New England at Gilette Stadium. The Patriots held Manning to 150 yards. Thomas and Thomas combined for just 4/41/1. Shotti was blown out by 97.71 points, mustering up only 133.36. The ripple effect of the Bronco game also cost Fire Goodell a win but because of the point differential FG got the bye while Shotti fell to the 4 seed. As a result of a week 13 statement game against #FreeOJ, TSB wound up facing Reign Maker once again in the Quarterfinals. This time there would be no doubt who was the better team. This time around the Thomas duo combined for 12/123/2. McCoy had 217 yards and 2 TD. Kansas City improved to the tune of 63 fantasy points. TSB came close to beating the all-time single game point record but finished with 355.42, sending RM packing. Up next, just like in the last two weeks of the season, TSB faced #FreeOJ. Despite all the power behind TSB, it was OJ who finished the season with the one-seed and the best record in the LOC. That was no matter to TSB, who made quick work of OJ, as was probably preordained by the Fantasy Gods. TSB was 2-1 lifetime against OJ and fully healthy, while OJ's star RB Peterson was nursing an injury. TSB won the day 240.64-206, solidifying a rivalry that would prove one-sided for years to come. All season long it had been Shotti and Goodell putting up astronomical numbers, so it was fitting that these two would meet in the final game of the season. As expected, the game was a high scoring affair. A total of 555.04 points were scored, but it was The Shotti Bunch that emerged victorious. TSB scored 323.04 points, topping off the highest scoring post-season run in LOC history (919.10 points). The Shotti Bunch was a league winner because of balance, consistency, and quick thinking in the face of adversity. For the second season in a row they had found success when faced with a QB-controversy, only this time they had completed the mission. 2014 Draft A Break from Being the Best (2014 Season) The Shotti Bunch had enjoyed tremendous success in 2013. In 2014, they strayed away from their powerful running game and took high flying WRs Bryant and Green back to back to kick off their draft. After picking a top RB in the first round each of their first two seasons, TSB did not take a top five running back in the draft. Foster finished the year as their best RB in 2014 but only played 13 games and did not meet expectations. AJ Green also had some injury trouble and missed three games (four when you include the bye). Shotti did not win a game in 2014 without AJ Green. One thing they did have going or them was Andrew Luck. Luck had a 40-TD season and finished third in the league in passing yards. The season started in similar fashion with a 2-2 start. In week two they faced their 2013 Championship Game opponant, Fire Goodell (then Money Manziel). Shotti left a ton of points on the bench and suffered their first loss of the year after Fire Goodell nearly broke the 300 point line. Consistent win benchign is a sign of performance inconsistency along lower-tier players on the roster. The poor flex play continued in week three but was cancelled out by an elite performance by Andrew Luck. Desperate for a big break, Shotti aquired Adrian Peterson in hopes that his suspension would be lifted. If the risk worked, Shotti would have aquired a top ten talent almost for free. Shotti would work this strategy in 2015 to perfection, taking Arian Foster in the 14th round. As for 2014, the AP risk never panned out. Shotti became known as the "beat the bad teams" team of 2014. As early as draft day they were projected to finish 7-6 and that is what came to be. In finishing the season as predicted, Shotti went 6-0 against teams that did not make the playoffs and 1-6 against teams with a winning record. They faced a tough strength of schedule and would finish third in the league in scoring, but like Fire Goodell in 2012 they were never quite able to get it going. While still a playoff team it was obvious by week 11 that they didn't have what it took to repeat. Their first two seasons they were 8-3 through 11 games. This time around they were 6-5 and had been struggling to win the big games all season. Despite their 1-2 finish, they posted the fourth best score through the final three weeks of the regular season. Luck was on their side in the quarterfinal matchup, where they faced off against the only playoff team they were able to beat in 2014, Papa's Posse. With Watkins and Foster nursing injuries as the playoffs got underway, The Shotti Bunch was not healthy enough for another big run. No team had ever won the Championship Game without posting a 300-point game at some point leading up to the big game. To make things more difficult, Shotti defeated the 2011 Champion only to face the 2012 Champion in the semifinals. Replacing a reeling Arizona Defense with streaking St. Louis wasn't enough and ma ma momma said punched their ticket to their second Championship Game by defeating The Shotti Bunch and ending their bid for a repeat. The Shotti Bunch entered the league with the look and feel of a dynasty, and they had made it to the semifinals in each of their first three seasons. Despite all of that, there was still a lot to prove. There was still a chance for them to become the first team to win a second Championship Game. 2015 Draft 2015 Season The Shotti Bunch could not buck the trend of slow beginnings. They had started 2-2 each of their last two seasons and did the same in 2015. After winning opening day for the fourth year in a row, they dropped games to GaroppoblowMe and ma ma momma said, two units who they would later compete with for first place. Still, The Shotti Bunch had loaded up on guys who weren't valuable in the start of the year but could become valuable as the season wore on. Among them, former pro-bowler Arian Foster and Super Bowl Champion Brandon LaFell. Both were nursing injuries but were expected to be back with their squads in a matter of weeks. Early success was attributed to Cam Newton and Arizona Defense, who together accounted for over 30% of the team's total points through three weeks. In week 4 they lost to their long time nemesis ma ma momma said, moving to 0-6 lifetime against them. Arian Foster came back and exploded onto the scene, sparking the team's longest win streak of the season (4 games). He averaged 26.45PPG over the first three games of TSB's best chunk of the season. Looking like the playoff team from 2013, Shotti was getting it done again on the ground. However, Foster tore his achilles and was placed on season-ending IR in week 7, seemingly shifting the balance of power in the league. However, swooping in to save the day was Rookie of the Year candidate Todd Gurley. Gurley bursted to life in week four and became the league's top runningback in a matter of weeks, despite missing three games. TSB employed a QB by committee, starting Stafford in weeks 1-2, Newton in weeks 3-4, Bradford in weeks 5-6, then Newton again from weeks 7-9. With the one seed up for grabs in week nine, TSB needed only to beat TEAM MANBEARPIG to be undisputed first place. However, they suffered their first loss in a month and was upset. The team rebounded in week ten with a win over Reign Maker. In the absence of Matt Forte on the Bears, Langford provided 55.03 points. This was the second week in a row he had accumulated more than 30. Despite the victory, there was a shadow looming over the team. Cam Newton’s fantasy production had gone down and Langford, despite his great performance, was only a temporary fix to the RB problem that stemmed from the loss of Foster early in the year. There was also a drop in production from Hopkins and the Arizona defense. The Langford bubble burst in week 11. Lucky for Shotti Bunch, the Hopkins/Newton concerns proved unwarranted, as they both (at least for the time being) returned to MVP form. The matchup between TSB and GaroppoblowMe was pivotal in determining who would have the top seed in the conference, but only one team showed up. GBM did not have a single player beat projections. Before facing off against the team they had never beaten, The Shotti Bunch next faced a team that almost always beat. With a win guaranteed to set up a bye for the team, TSB saw his worst performance of the season. Hopkins, Gurley, and Murray all failed to break 10 points. Newton and Arizona also failed to meet projections. To make matters worse, what looked like a season ending injury to Gronkowski occurred late in the Denver Broncos game on Sunday night. With Gronk out, the season looked to be in jeopardy. To win in week 13 was no small task. They had never beaten ma ma momma said, and to earn a first round bye they would need to do so. The winner was guaranteed a top 2 seed and the 1 seed if GBM couldn’t close it out against Fire Goodell. Ma ma momma said led early. TSB could not find a replacement for Gronk, with Bennett scoring just 4.40 against a projected 12.37. The NYG squad had beaten their projection when combined, and the one seed looked like it was in jeopardy. However, Cam Newton stacked up 63.27 points to compensate for the rest of the team’s shortcomings and TSB pulled the upset. Thanks to the loss by GBM, they had the number one seed in the league. Franchise Statistics Head-to-Head Records